Arrests continue in immigrant-heavy Massachusetts communities like Everett and Chelsea, with residents documenting enforcement actions on social media.
The apparent uptick in arrests comes nearly a month after President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, declared he would be “bringing hell” to Boston and other sanctuary cities.
Some in the immigrant community believe recent arrests have expanded to include undocumented immigrants without criminal records, suspecting it may be due to pressures from the president to meet daily quotas of about 1,500 arrests.
Get updates on what’s happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Law enforcement agents were captured on video again Thursday morning, this time after stopping a van and arresting several people on Union street at the Chelsea-Everett line.
A woman from El Salvador agreed to speak to NBC10 Boston, asking to conceal her identity and that of her brother, whom she said was among the people arrested.
She said her brother, who does not have a legal status, has no criminal record.
As immigration officials continue to make arrests in Boston, hundreds of advocates and immigrants gathered at the Massachusetts State House.
Lucy Pineda is the executive director of the immigrant advocacy group Latinos Unidos En Massachusetts — or LUMA — in Everett.
She explains how she plans to make it harder for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find their targets by blasting messages down the street using speakers and megaphones, informing people of their rights.
“They’re trying to intimidate our community, and we can see it,” Pineda said. “They don’t just arrest people with criminal history, they arrest people who don’t have no legal documents, they don’t have no [criminal] records in the country.”
Pineda said a lot of what’s been seen and reported in neighboring communities this week is also happening in her city.
“What I think you’re seeing right now is the beginning of what Tom Homan said he was going to do,” said former Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson.
The Trump campaign advisor said he hopes recent enforcement operations can encourage people to seek a legal way into the country.
“It’s about upholding the rule of law,” he said. “We can’t pick and choose for ourselves what people we think should have to abide by the law and which ones shouldn’t.”
The White House slammed the sanctuary policies of Boston and surrounding communities in a press release Thursday, highlighting recent arrests by ICE of immigrants who have been charged with — but not convicted of — a range of crimes, including child rape and organized crime.
